--- title: "Whistleblower Claims Facebook Can Secretly Drain Your Phone’s Battery on Purpose" description: "People have suspected for years that Facebook Messenger was draining their batteries — and a new lawsuit just might prove it." date: "2023-01-31" modified: "2023-01-31" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/whistleblower-facebook-messenger-battery" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "facebook" - "Meta" - "smartphones" - "the digest" --- # Whistleblower Claims Facebook Can Secretly Drain Your Phone’s Battery on Purpose ![People have suspected for years that Facebook Messenger was draining their batteries — and a new lawsuit just might prove it.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Do No Harm For [years now](), Facebook Messenger users have suspected the app is [draining their smartphone batteries]() — and a lawsuit from a former employee who worked on it lends new credence to that suspicion. In an [interview with the *New York Post*](), former Facebook data scientist George Hayward claims that the company directed him to do exactly that — and that when he refused, he was fired. Hayward alleges in his Manhattan Federal Court lawsuit that he was fired when he refused to engage in the practice known as "negative testing," which is, in essence, when tech companies covertly test out the limits of users' systems. In the case of Facebook Messenger, this played out with the app allegedly being used to see how much data users' phones could handle — and draining their batteries in the process. "I said to the manager, 'This can harm somebody,'" the plaintiff and [apparent comedian]() told the *NY* *Post*, "and she said by harming a few we can help the greater masses." "Any data scientist worth his or her salt will know, ‘Don’t hurt people,'" Hayward added. ## Bad Bad Not Good A spokesperson for Facebook's parent company Meta was dismissive of the explosive claims, though. "Here is a statement you can use for your article," they wrote. "Mr. Hayward’s claims are without merit." The whistleblower said that he believes the company already had engaged in negative testing based on a document he was given by his supervisor titled "How to run thoughtful negative tests" that featured what appeared to be real-world examples. "I have never seen a more horrible document in my career," Hayward told the *NY Post*. Hayward's attorney Daniel Kaiser told *Futurism* that the complaint is now headed toward internal arbitration at Meta, Facebook's parent company, and that the federal suit has thusly been withdrawn. All the same, the whistleblower reportedly stands by his allegations in the suit, which included that the company might be doing harm to people who rely on Messenger "in circumstances where they need to communicate with others, including but not limited to police or other rescue workers." Kaiser told the *NY Post* that he finds the alleged practice "enraging" and "clearly illegal" — and depending on how far the case makes it through Meta's internal arbitration process, it may eventually come to a stop, or at very least be publicized further. **More on Facebook — er, Meta:** [*Meta Board Trashes Facebook's "Convoluted and Poorly Defined" Female Nipple Rule*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()